My Seabreeze-search-fu isn't working well at the moment, so I'm just seeking a bit of kite repair advice please;
What is the best type of self adhesive repair tape for fixing small holes, roughly a millimetre or less in diameter, in a kite canopy?
Dacron, nylon or something else?
Cheers
http://www.tear-aid.com/index.htm
Type A.
Used some 2 nights ago - on a couple of tears in the sail (one 10 cms ) brilliant.
Use on both sides - it is transparent - can be hard to spot the tear after applying.
Yet to see if it is as durable as a patch / sew but when I tested it it was a stronger than the rip-stop on either side (fairly old bit of cloth but impressive none the less).
I bought a 1 metre strip and cut to shape as required.
Cheers
AP
The clear non stretchy type of tape, I think it is made from Mylar.
Cut a rounded edge shape for top and bottom about 1cm border larger than the cut.
Stick on both sides and work it with a spoon and even heat it up a bit to activate the adhesive.
I have done a couple of repairs that have lasted a few seasons.
Dacrontape is the next best but would recommend stitching even a hand stitch will do
just to prevent the edges lifting. Heat to activate the adhesive.
Hope this helps
Rich
+1 for Mylar,i stock a Mylar sheet thats about 650x900 can cut it to any shape and its tough as and transparent,for holes and tears up to around 150 mm its awesome ,self adhesive just stick it both sides of the tear and your good to go,costs about $30 a sheet,fixed a kite 5 years ago with it and saw it the other day still exactly as i repaired it,you can get it at sail shops,Peter Lynn carry it in NZ.
When i repair kites in the shop, I tend to use Tear-aid for bladders, and nylon spinnaker repair tape for canopies. I
f you go to any sailing shop they'll have it in about 10 different colours, so you can match it to your canopy in most cases...
I just find that it blends in a lot better, and you very rarely get sand caught in the edges like you do with some clear tapes..
Thanks for the good advice guys
So you guys reckon a yachting chandlery will have the goods?
I'd certainly prefer patching with something that doesn't need stitching.
Here's a couple of pics of the holes; it looks as though the bladder connector was rubbing on the canopy when it was folded up at some time.
Buying a used kite I expected to find a couple of things like this, I'm not too worried about it, just want to make sure I fix it properly.
Holes seen from the top of the canopy;
Someone's example of how not to do it;
Looks like it was caused by rubbing when folded;
Hi Peeps,
We used to use Tear Aid, but it isn't ideal, for one, it's stretchy so that makes it inappropriate for tears bigger than about 2". It also tends to eventually peel up around the edges, even when you round the corners. This starts with the oils from your fingerprints where you peeled the backing off, it's practically unavoidable.
As an emergency patch, it works well but should be considered a temporary and less than ideal stop gap. Tear Aid also gets soft with heat which also helps the edges lift and attract sand after a while.
A much better option is the Mylar material. It's micro thin, doesn't lift, is almost completely invisible when stuck on correctly, and doesn't stretch at all making it ideal for larger and small tears. I have done some big tears with Mylar that never warranted additional attention when stuck both sides with a 1" overlap.
Tear aid is unbeatable for bladders and that style of repair, Mylar unbeatable for canopy repairs. Dacron with double sided spinnaker tape is ideal for leading edges when applied internally. Any external repair to a LE or strut casing will fail unless stitched and attended to properly.
DM
my brother put 2 band aids on his switchblade in FIJI, they lasted over a year, and i sold the kite with them still on.